Fort Collins mother arrested in fatal child abuse case

FORT COLLINS, Colo. — A Fort Collins mother was arrested Thursday in connection to the murder of her little girl.

Alexa Coria, 22, will join her boyfriend, Juan Canales-Hernandez, in the Larimer County Jail on child abuse charges.

Canales-Hernandez  is accused of hitting 11-month-old RaeLynn Martinez with a chair while he was watching her on Sep. 8. Police say Coria returned and attempted revive the little girl, but those efforts proved unsuccessful. The girl died at Children’s Hospital Sep. 9.

Canales-Hernandez is being held for first-degree murder and child abuse resulting in serious bodily injury and parole revocation. 

The alleged attack mirrors that of a 2013 case in which he pleaded guilty to child abuse resulting in serious bodily injury. That attack left a child also unrelated to Canales-Hernandez with a broken arm, a torn pancreas, hundreds of bruises and several bite marks.

Coria is being held on charges of child abuse resulting in death, accessory to a crime and attempt to influence a public servant.